Rents To Spike For SoHo Library After Kushner Takeover

SOHO, NY — Soho's public library is getting a rent hike.

The New York Public Library's branch at Jersey and Mulberry streets will get an increase in its current rent at a building in Soho, a spokesperson for the landlord, Kushner Companies, confirmed.

The Mulberry Street library currently pays $37 per square foot, plus another $15 per square foot for fees and taxes, according to spokespeople for the Kushner Companies and New York Public Library.

But in two years time, its rent will increase to $76 per square foot at the 16,000-square-foot space.

The new rent won't include taxes for the library because of how the lease was written, so the library sees it as a savings as taxes rise, according to the New York Public Library.

The previous rent, set in 2007 just before the global recession, will be upped in a 30-year lease with the Kushner Companies, which owns the retail condo on the ground floor, according to the New York Post, which first reported the rent increase.

Kushner Cos. paid nearly $40 million for the retail condo at 285 Lafayette this summer, according to the Post.

A previous version of this article stated the library's rent will double. The rent will increase, but not by twice as much. This article has been updated to reflect this with additional information from the New York Public Library.